WTI oil prices were upended, yesterday, on news that the 700k bpd Keystone pipeline Cushing Oklahoma to the Gulf was basically finished and should start up by November. The news punctuated the weekly inventory, which showed a sizeable rise in overall US inventories, but a further small decline in Cushing inventories. The decline in Cushing barrels came despite the US refining utilization falling below 90%, so it is pretty clear that the Keyston pipeline initiation will only exacerbate the recent trend of midcontinent oil fleeing to the Gulf Coast.
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